U.S. military planners have begun to help organize a multinational proxy force to intervene next year in Mali [2], the famine-stricken, coup-wracked African country that has become a magnet for Islamist extremists, U.S. officials said Wednesday.The international force would be led on the ground by several thousand Malian and West African troops but would receive extensive support [3]from the Pentagon and the State Department, which would help train, equip and transport the troops, Obama administration officials said.
